It’s time for me to start teaching again. What better way to get back into it than a summer Rosé class? So …

Please join Spec’s fine wine buyer Bear Dalton on Monday, July 9th at 7pm for Revealing Rosé. We’ll beat the heat as we dig into dry Rosé with look at sixteen refreshing 2017 vintage Rosé wines from all over France from Bordeaux to the Languedoc to Provence to the Rhone to Sancerre as well as wines from Spain and California representing the range of styles from “Beach” to “Food Friendly.” We’ll talk about the grapes, the places they’re grown, how they’re made, and the foods we eat with them. Bread and a selection of fine cheeses will accompany the tasting.

Revealing Rosé will cost $50.00 per person cash ($52.63 regular).
The class will meet at 7pm on Monday, July 9th at l’Alliance Française.
To purchase your ticket(s), please contact Susan at 713-854-7855 or coburnsusan2@gmail.com.

L’Alliance Françaiseis the French cultural center in Houston. Located at 427 Lovett Blvd., l’Alliance is on the southeast corner of Lovett and Whitney (one block south of Westheimer and two blocks east of Montrose).

If you buy a ticket and will not be able to attend, please cancel at least 24 hours before the class or you may be charged. Later cancellations will not be charged if we can fill the seat. This is often case as we regularly have waiting lists for these classes.

With almost 40 years experience in the wine business and 30-plus years experience teaching about wine, Spec’s fine wine buyer Bear Dalton is one of the top wine authorities as well as the most experienced wine educator in Texas.

As we fast approach its halfway point, 2018 has been a roller-coaster-ride for me. Lots of highs and lows, lots of twists and turns, and more to come.

I started 2018 dealing with persistent, sometimes debilitating back pain that I was trying to manage with physical therapy and massage. Nevertheless, things have to be done and life must go on. And that, in fact rather a lot of that, has happened.

On January 6th, my Women Of Wine (WOW) culinary team and I cooked and served the WOW wine dinner at John and Julie Cogan’s home on North Blvd. My two favorite courses were the Escargot over Mashed Potatoes and the Delice de Bourgogne Ice Cream with homemade (courtesy of sous chef Denise Ehrlich) ginger snaps. Pure decadent deliciousity. And, thanks to generous auction buyers, a good bit of money raised for a great cause (The Houston Area Women’s Center).

Tuesday and Wednesday January 16th and 17th brought the annual Mostly Cru Classé Bordeaux tastings (this year featuring 2015s) in Houston and Dallas. Well, almost. The Tuesday Houston event was postponed “day-of” due to what many referred to as the “Houston Ice-pocolypse” (or as it would be known in Chicago – “Tuesday”). The Wednesday event in Dallas was perfect and all the 2015 Bordeaux wines showed beautifully. That Thursday brought me my extremely positive first experience riding Vonlane’s Dallas-Houston luxury bus service that beats the heck out of driving or flying.

On January 29that 6am, Carol drove me to the “Chick-Fil-A” Methodist emergency room with what I thought was appendicitis … only to find out I had stage-4-colon-cancer. I was immediately admitted to Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center where at 4pm on January 31st, their colo-rectal surgeons removed a tumor that was bigger-than-a-baseball-but-smaller-than-a-softball. I awakened after this four-hour surgery to find I was equipped with an ostomy bag as they had disconnected my plumbing to give my colon a chance to heal. In removing the tumor and some intestine, my appendix (why not?), and a few lymph-nodes, the surgeons had gotten all the cancer except for two small tumors in my liver. Silver lining: When the big colon tumor was removed, my back pain went away. Apparently the tumor was pushing on my sacrum which was the source of my back pain – maybe stretching back over a couple of years.

On Febraury 1st (the day after surgery), I walked 4 laps around the 8th floor of Dunn Tower. By the time I checked out on February 8th, I was walking over 2 miles a day. On March 3rd, I walked the 5K for the Houston Area Women’s Center’s Race Against Violence (“run” is no longer in my vocabulary).

On March 6th, I hosted the rescheduled-from January 2015 Mostly Cru Classé Bordeaux tasting at the Crystal Ballroom at the Rice in Houston. Another smash success although a bit of a load on me considering the recent surgery, etc. Many thanks to all who helped.

A week later on March 13th, I had another surgery to reconnect my plumbing and get rid of the ostomy bag. A joyous day. The next day I walked over 3 miles at a good pace in three sets of 10+ laps each (all on the 8th floor of Methodist’ Dunn Tower).

On April 1st, I flew KLM from Houston to Bordeaux for my 22nd trip to taste the new vintage en-premiere. Ten-plus days of tasting delicious, fresh, 2017 barrel-samples from all over Bordeaux with young-up-and-comers from Spec’s (Tom Dobson, James Barlow, and Alan Dennis – all of whom make fine traveling companions as they tolerated my very-eclectic-driving-music-mix that ranges through country, western, swing, Americana, mariachi, salsa, some torch songs, ranchero, rock, rock and roll, blues, jazz, gospel, hymns, classical, and French- German-Mexican-and-even-some-American pop).

I returned to Houston on April 14th and started my first chemo session on Monday, April 16th. That first session offered relatively few side effects that pretty much cleared up by the end of the second week. I thought it was going to be that easy. If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.

At the end of that second week on Friday April 27, I was feted by the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) as their community honoree at their annual gala. I felt honored and humbled and loved. Good people doing good work.

On Monday May 7th, I got my second chemo infusion and then was driven by Abdulatefe – The Singing Nigerian Uber Driver (he got a five-star rating and a good tip) – to the airport (IAH) to fly to London via Mexico City for my annual customer trip. This unusual routing was courtesy of the striking workers at what I now call Air Chance as there is only a chance your Air France flight will not be cancelled. This trip saw us visiting sparkling wine producers (“British Bubbles” – it’s a thing) in the south of England before flying to France to visit chateaux in Cahors and Bordeaux. I returned to Houston on May 19th. Despite heavy chemo side-effects (especially hand-foot syndrome and a pretty much constantly unsettled GI tract), this was maybe the best consumer trip I have ever led. (Next year: Port and Spain).

Tuesday, May 29th brought chemo-session-number-three before the side effects of chemo-session-number-two had cleared-up. Side effects in session three were so bad my oncologist gave me an extra week between chemos to let them abate. They finally did abate enough that these last few days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) were what now passes for normal.

On June 11th, I competed in my 2nd Women Of Wine Sangria Throwdown. We hit-for-the-cycle: 3rd place in Most Creative, 2nd place in People’s Choice, and 1st place in Judges’ Choice. Thank you Denise Ehrlich and Women of Wine for a super well-run event. Thank you to my team of Joan Sokol, Deborah Touchy, Ned Thorn, and especially Carol Dalton for making Carpe Sangria(my cucumber-melon-citrus, cilantro, ginger, white vermouth-based Sangria) possible.

The last two Thursdays (6/14 and 6/21) brought scans at Methodist hospital (including an-hour-and-a-half in the MRI tube this last Thursday) and those scans showed that both liver tumors are shrinking substantially due to the chemo. Which is fabulous news. Hopefully, this will help get the liver procedure (hoping for Radio Frequency Oblation) scheduled sooner rather than later. Radio Frequency Oblation entails putting a needle into the tumor and blasting it with radio waves to burn it out. I’m thinking a little death metal (not on my playlist) should do the trick.

Last Thursday also brought a phone call from Cathy Moore of ECHOS (Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services) informing me that I’ve been chosen me as their community honoree for the ECHOS gala chef’s dinner on September 20th. ECHOS is an organization working with a largely immigrant, very low-income population in southwest Houston to aid with healthcare, food, facilities, counseling, and more. Like the Houston Area Women’s center with whom they work closely, ECHOS does yeoman work. I am humbled to be offered that honor.

This last Saturday brought a new addition to our family as Sergeant Scout found a kitten (cute little thing, a “Lynx Point Siamese” saith Cat-Lady-Carol) in our backyard. We already have three cats (two foundlings and Carol’s late mom’s cat) and rescue dog Scout but I guess we need another kitty. It’s a boy, probably will be called “Nicolas.” Carol pronounces the “S”; I’m going with the French pronunciation (Nic-o-lah). Here’s hoping it bonds with Scout.

On Sunday, I got a week-late Fathers’ Day celebration with both boys (and Miss Carol!) at church followed by lunch with them at the new Black Bear Diner in Katy. Black Bear Diner is my go-to-breakfast spot in both Napa and Sonoma. Best patty sausage ever. The new Katy location did not disappoint.

Sunday night we had my home-made, fresh-squeezed Margaritas because I knew this fourth round of chemo will eliminate all cold drinks for at least the next week due to cold neurapathy.

Which brings us to today. I write much of this as I sit in the chemo chair getting chemo infusion number four. And so restarts the cycle of chemo and side-effects. I can feel the neuropathy returning even as the drip continues.

I am finishing and posting this from home very early Tuesday morning as I can’t sleep now due to having slept for over 4 hours after the infusion Monday.

Lots of ups-and-downs this year but through it all I see and feel the Hand of God holding me and protecting me, giving me His peace and comfort and His strength to meet each day. Sometimes that Hand looks like a doctor or a nurse, sometimes like family or a friend who calls or emails/texts or visits at just the right time. Sometimes it is John or Lindy Rydman or one of my Valeries or Scarlet or others from Spec’s and the larger wine world (including friends in France, Germany, England, Spain, and California). Sometimes it looks my Gang-of-Pour or other Wine School friends. Sometimes God’s Hand looks like a Facebook comment or “like,” or like Scout’s big doggie head resting in my lap. Often God’s Hand looks an aweful lot like Miss Carol. The cancer has been a big inconvenience and the chemo is kicking-my-ass but, while I am not yet out-of-the-woods, I can at least see the meadow through the trees. 2018 has been a continual learning opportunity, an often-daunting challenge, and a generally humbling experience, even as I have been lifted up in prayers and love. Highs and lows, twists and turns; we’ll see how the second half goes. 2018 may turn out to be the year of the Bear; it is most certainly The Year of Our Lord.

On Wednesday, May 9, 2018 at 7pm please join Chef Johann Schuster and Co. at Charivari for their last wine dinner before Charivari closes and moves to a new location. The dinner will feature Chef Schuster’s classic take on traditional Spanish cuisine paired with modern Spanish wines from Prados in Zaragoza. The Prados winery is located in Zaragoza at the foothills of the Sierra del Moncayo.

On Wednesday, May 2nd at 7pm, please join me in welcoming Delphine Blanchot of Domaines Clarence Dillon of Bordeaux to the Wine School at l’Alliance Française for a tasting of 9 wines from the Clarence Dillon portfolio. Domaines Clarence Dillon is the umbrella over Ch. Haut Brion and Ch. La Mission Haut Brion in Pessac Leognan as well as Ch. Quintus in St. Emilion and the Clarendelle wines. Our tasting will include all six Clarendelle wines and well as the Ch. Quintus 2014 and La Chapelle de la Mission (2nd wine of Ch. La Mission Haut Brion) 2014 and Le Clarence de Haut Brion (2nd wine of Ch Haut Brion) 2014.

The Domaines Clarence Dillon tasting will cost $40.00 per person (Cash or Check) or $42.11 regular. The class will meet at 7pm on Wednesday May 2 at l’Alliance Française. To purchase your ticket, please contact Susan at 713-854-7855 or coburnsusan2@gmail.com.

L’Alliance Française is the French cultural center in Houston. Located at 427 Lovett Blvd., l’Alliance is on the southeast corner of Lovett and Whitney (one block south of Westheimer and two blocks east of Montrose).

If you buy a ticket and will not be able to attend, please cancel at least 24 hours before the class or you may be charged. Later cancellations will not be charged if we can fill the seat. This is often case as we regularly have waiting lists for these classes.

Due to health issues and a work conflict, a few people have had to drop out of this previously sold out trip in May to the UK, Cahors, and Bordeaux.

May 10 through May 19, 2018Your job is to be near LONDON ready to board a bus at Fox Hills Resort by 10:30am Thursday morning, May 10, 2018. I recommend (but do not require) that you get to London a day or two early so that you are acclimated before the action starts.

My job is to get you from there (via Luxury Coach – aka “the Bus”) to the south of England where we will visit four English Sparkling Wine Houses (Nyetimber, Hattingley Valley, Ridgeview, and Chapel Down), have a Port presentation, eat and drink well, and stay at the four-star Foxhills Club and Resort.

On Saturday May 12th, we will fly from London to Bordeaux and proceed by private coach (the bus) to Cahor where we will have a river cruise tasting as we visit, stay, and dine at the elegant Chateau de Mercues (four star hotel, winery, and restaurant). Sunday morning we’ll visit Ch. Haut Serre (also in Cahors) where we will also have lunch.

On Sunday afternoon (May 13), we will proceed (on the bus) to Bordeaux where we will stay at the four star Relais de Margaux located on the east side of the Margaux appellation close to the Gironde Estuary. Sunday evening plans include a dinner at classified Growth Ch. Cantemerle..

Monday and Tuesday will find us in the Medoc (Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac, and St. Estephe) visiting such properties as Ducru Beaucaillou, Leoville Barton, Cantenac Brown, Pontet Canet, Pichon Lalande, Calon Segur, Pontac Lynch, Gruaud Larose, Branaire Ducru, Margaux, and Lafite. On Wednesday, we’ll visit such Pessac Leognan properties as Smith Haut Lafitte, Carbonnieux, Domaine de Chevalier, Carmes Haut Brion, and Haut Brion. On Thursday and Friday, we’ll visit such Right Bank visiting properties as Canon, Croix St. Georges, Vieux Ch. Certan, Figeac, Canon La Gaffeliere, Quintus, l’Evangile, and Larcis Ducasse. These visits will incude some “enhanced tastings” at some of the very top chateaux.

We’ll finish the day on Friday with dinner at Restaurant Le 7 atop La Cite du Vin wine museum in Bordeaux. My part of the trip ends at check out time on Saturday morning May 19. You may then fly home, extend your stay in Bordeaux, or head out to a different destination in Europe.

Each morning, we will leave the hotel about 8:30-to-9:30am and will return after dinner by about 10:30-11pm (unless we are dining at the hotel). Each day includes breakfast at the hotel and all lunches and dinners, often at the chateaux with older wines from the chateaux. This is a wine intensive trip (with quality over quantity) with unusual access to great properties and their wines. From lunch on Thursday May 10th through breakfast on Saturday May 18th, all lodging, meals, wines, and logistics (including the flight from London to Toulouse) are included.

The trip is priced at $5900 per person (double occupancy, airfare to London / from Bordeaux is not included). Airfare from London to Toulouse is included. The single supplement is $1000. Payment is due at time of reservation. Payment may be made by check or credit card. If want to come, please respond quickly to BearDalton@mac.com.

To the surprise of many, I just completed my twenty-second consecutive annual trip to Bordeaux to taste the new vintage en premier. I have a number of thoughts on the quality and style of the 2017 vintage which, like every vintage, was heavily influenced by the weather.

Bear Dalton at Ch. Carbonnieux in April 2018

To recap of the weather in Bordeaux in 2017: The year started dry and there was some early warmth leading to an early budding of the vines. Everything was looking good until disaster struck beginning on the morning of April 27 with temperatures as low as 25°F in some areas. The frost hit certain terroir and spared others. The left bank vineyards closer to the Gironde were mostly spared and many vineyards all over Bordeaux located on hilltops and plateaus were mostly spared. Vineyards in dips and valleys, on slopes and at the bottom of slopes were the most heavily affected. Within a couple of days, the frost effect was pretty well known. Some chateaux lost their whole crop. Others lost amounts ranging down from 100% of their grapes to having just a few rows or even a few vines affected.

The frost freeze-burned the tender young buds and leaves. Frost affected vines either produced no grapes or a minimal amount of grapes from a second later crop set. A week after the frost, many of the most affected vineyards looked like they had been burned.

Early summer brought some welcome rains that recharged the soils and energized the vines. July and August offered warm days and cool nights that ripened the grapes and burned off the pyrazines (natural compounds in grapes that can lend a green bell-pepper flavor to the finished wines) while maintaining the wine’s freshness and acidity.

A wild card came in September rains that delayed the harvest, especially for Cabernet Sauvignon (the latest ripening of the major varieties).

What does all that mean? Except for the frost, this was a fairly-normal, good but not perfect weather year in Bordeaux. Despite the sometimes devastating frost-related reduction in crop, the growers with better terroir were generally happy with the grapes they harvested and felt like they could make fine wine. And a great many did.

For better or worse, 2017 will carry the stigma of being a frost vintage. The partially informed who stop there will likely avoid the wines. The more informed (that would be you if you keep reading) will likely find a number of wines that will make you very happy.

A Tale of Terroir
So who made fine wine and who didn’t? Many but not all of the best terroir seemed almost exempt from the frost. Many of the lesser terroir were not so lucky.

The band of vineyards running along the D2 road that runs north from the city of Bordeaux through the Haut Medoc were mostly either lightly affected or undamaged. Vineyards between the road and Gironde estuary fared the best but many vineyards just west of the road also fared pretty well. The further west the vineyard was, the more damage from frost. Moulis and Listrac were pretty much wiped out, as were parts of the Medoc AOC at the north end of the peninsula. In Pessac Leognan, the top properties fared fairly well but some of the lesser known sites took a hit, Carbonnieux lost maybe 30% of production to frost but next-door neighbor Haut Vigneau lost its whole crop. Parts of Graves and Sauternes were hard hit as well.

Some properties in St. Emilion and Pomerol were mostly unaffected while others were wiped out. In Pomerol, Ch. Petrus and Ch. Le Pin were mostly unaffected while Clinet and Vieux Ch. Certan were lightly effected and La Pointe lost their whole crop. Ch. Nenin made a grand vin (1stwine) from un affected vineyards but did not make a 2ndwine as the vineyards that would normally go into Fugue de Nenin were fully affected by the frost. Some St. Emilion properties were un affected but two wines we but every year (Ch. Laplagnotte Bellevue and Ch. Grand Corbin Despagne) lost their whole crop. More common in St. Emilion were chateau with anywhere from 30-to-70 percent of normal production. Typical of this is Ch. Canon La Gaffeliere, Ch. Figeac, and Ch. Cheval Blanc, all of which are great terroirs that took a big hit in sloping areas that usually produce great grapes.

Other areas were even less fortunate. Castillon, Francs, and St. Emilion satellites were hard hit as was Lalande de Pomerol. Most of the area between the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers (which produces mostly wines – red, white, and rosé – that sell for seven-to-fifteen-dollars-a-bottle was hard hit as well. There will be very little Bordeaux Rosé or Clairet from 2017.

The best sites made the best wine even as some great sites were heavily affected by the frost. Dropping down the price scale, wineries normally making medium and lower priced wines were more likely to have made lesser-quality wines or no wine at all. Taking only the top 200 or so chateaux into consideration, 2017 will prove out to be an excellent vintage with more-than-a-handful of outstanding wines.

The Secondary Frost Effect
When people in Bordeaux ask me about Hurricane Harvey, it’s easy to say that I was “unaffected.” After all we got no water in our house and our vehicle’s were undamaged, even though we were flooded in for a couple of days. But were we really unaffected. We had family and friends who did have a lot of water in their homes and who lost vehicles and personal possessions. And the effect on the city affected us as well. So while we didn’t flood, we were affected.

The same is true of the 2017 frost in Bordeaux. While some vines froze and some chateaux lost some-or-all-of-their-crop (the primary frost effect), all the vines of Bordeaux were in some way affected by the cold. Even the vines that showed no primary frost damage were affected in that the cold stopped the vegetative growth of the vine which then had to restart and slowly regain momentum after, in most cases, a several day pause (the secondary frost effect). This growth pause may be at least partly responsible for the freshness and pretty red fruit character the best 2017 wines exhibit.

Playing the Game
Every year during en premierweek, the game is to compare the new vintage to some vintage in the past. This year the game was harder than it’s ever been. The last real frost vintage was 1991 but the frost in 1991 was more widespread and the farming and winemaking were nowhere near the state that they’re in now. From a qualitative standpoint, the better wines (classified growths and equivalent as well as top unclassified properties) produced in 2017 are in or more likely just above the range of 1999, 2008, and 2014 but not at the level of 2009-2010 or 2015-2016. Which is not to say the style is similar to these or any other vintages. In my experience, 2017 is unique. Like 1999, I think the wines are fresh and pretty and will drink well on release but the structure is different and the farming and winemaking now are decades ahead of 1999. Further, the temptation to over-extract was lower in 2017 than in any other recent vintage so the best wines offer a pretty red fruit character with purity and balance. Were there any over extracted wines? Apparently so from what heard about Pavie and Ausone to name a couple but that’s hearsay (as opposed to heresy) as I went to neither place and tasted neither wine. I did taste a few that were close (Pape Clement and Lynch Bages to name two) but none that crossed-the-line.

So qualitatively 2017 (both despite and because of the frost) is enough above average to be considered a selectively excellent if not outstanding vintage. Buy with some caution but do buy (assuming it is priced right) this pretty, age-worthy, balanced, unique vintage. (What is priced right? That’s another game. I’d like to see the ex-cellars prices in euros at or maybe slightly above those of 2014 but not at the level of 2015. If the wines are priced too high, the vintage will not sell as futures.) Even though 2017 has its own unique style, if you enjoyed 1999 or 2008 or 2014, the better part of 2017 is a vintage to buy.And due to that frost, there will be less of it.

2017 and Second Wines
In most vintages, many chateaux’s second wines mirror the style and structure of their grand vin, even if the mirror is a bit foggy. Foggy because the second wines have most often come from the estate’s lesser (a relative term) terroir and are generally made in a style that reflects the grand vin but in an earlier drinking, more approachable way.

In 2017, a lot of the second wines are fresh and pretty but stylistically distinct and different. Some of the second wines were in short or very short supply and some weren’t made at all. Why? The terroir effect of 2017. More and more the second wines come from specific plots that make very good wines but maybe less good than the plots chosen for the increasingly selective grand vins. This results in the clos that makes the Grand Vin de Ch. Latour and Les Forts vineyards that make Les Forts de Latour and even separate Pauillac vineyards that (along with culls from the other two make the “third wine” Pauillac de Latour. In this scenario, Les Forts essentially becomes a separate wine rather than a “second wine.” The situation is similar for Carruades from Lafite. In the case of Croix de Beaucaillou from Ducru Beaucaillou, Ch. Moulin Riche from Leoville Poyferre and Clos de Marquis from Leoville las Cases, all are now (while sharing winemaking teams and facilities with their former siblings) treated as their own separate properties. Each of the two former Leoville properties now has its own second wine: M de Moulin Riche and La Petite Marquise.

As these terroirs are generally lesser (again a relative term) than the greater terroirs from which they have been separated, the wines sell for less (but often not as much less than they did as actual second wines). What is different about these second wine terroirs? Almost invariably, they are cooler and somewhat more frost prone and in 2017 more likely to have been frost affected both in terms of primary frost damage and the secondary frost effect discussed above.

A Word about Extraction
Several factors are now in-play that are reducing the two decade lean toward over ripeness and the use of more extractive techniques. Part of it is the decline in the influence of Robert Parker and certain other critics. Part of it is a perception among some Bordelaise that this is a Michel Roland wine or that is a Stephen Derenencourt wine – as opposed to a wine of a particular place. Part of it that better farming (a strong lean toward sustainable, organic, or biodynamic) is producing better grapes that producers now realize don’t need to be propped up by aggressive winemaking. Part of it is a bit more ripeness from warmer vintages. And part of it is a string of vintages that have not lent themselves to big extractions (while admittedly avoiding tasting a few notorious extracters). For all of these reasons, we tasted no wines this year that went over the top on extraction – and that’s a good thing.

Bear Dalton with Eiisabeth Jaubert at Ch. Petrus

Impressions
So what did I like best? My tasting notes and scores will follow over the next few days. For now, I’ll invoke the words of an old Bordeaux vigneron who once told me “Tasting wine is like kissing girls. You remember the best. You remember the worst. For the rest you need a diary.”

The most likely to be under-rated wines of the vintage are the so called second labels of first growth properties Clarence de Haut Brion, Les Forts de Latour, and Pavillon Rouge de Ch. Margaux, all of which are not only excellent but among the very best wines of their respective appellations. Also, no surprises.

Some of the most memorable surprises the 2017 Bordeaux vintage were:
Ch. Troplong Mondot (newowner and new management)
Quintus (the steadily improving St. Emilion property owned by Haut Brion’s Dillon family
R de Rieussec, the dry white wine produced by Sauternes chateau Rieussec – comes across as a sort of baby Haut Brion Blanc (which is high praise indeed).
Ch. Carbonnieux which made both a red and a white that are as good as I have ever tasted.
Ch. Pedesclaux finally living up to the hype it got the last three years for the 2014 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Sauternes second label Carmes de Rieussec offers a sweet but-not-over-the-top, delicious, and refreshing-with-good-acidity value sauternes in a style likely to appeal to much of the US market, maybe more than Ch. Rieussec’s grand vin.

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Welcome to Bear On Wine

Come to Bear On Wine for Learning and Thinking . . . About Wine. I don't think you need to know much about wine to enjoy it . . . but I do think the more you know about wine, the more you tend to appreciate it. And, for me at least, learning about wine leads to thinking about wine. After over 35 years of working with wine and over 25 years of teaching and writing about wine, I'm still learning. I invite you to come along and learn more with me. - Bear